Elevator Talk
by fanfictional
Summary: Tony and Ziva get stuck in the elevator when Ziva's having a bad day. Tony's determined to get her to talk about it, and the elevator seems to be on his side. Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters. Tiva friendship. Rated T for mild language
1. Chapter 1

_**So, tell me if you think it's too much like something you've seen before. Another chapter, coming soon.**_

Tony, McGee, and Gibbs sat at their respective desks waiting for a new case to be given to them but were not hopeful. Ziva stepped off the elevator and threw her bag unceremoniously behind the desk to vent some of her annoyance. She was angry, more than angry, she was furious with that man. McGee and Gibbs had the sense to not step into her line of fire, but Tony was like a kamikaze (A/N: a kamikaze is a Japanese suicide pilot) around her. "Something wrong, Zee-vah?", he asked before she had even had a chance to sit down.

She stood looking at the ceiling for a moment and tried to ignore the temptation to pull one of her many hidden weapons and kill Tony before anyone could blink. "Today is not the day to antagonize me, Tony", she warned in an even voice. On the inside she was trying ignore what had happened the night before on her date. She had been seeing a man named Fletcher for about a month and a half, and things had been going well until the night before.

"Uh-oh, trouble in paradise?", he asked with a smirk. He wanted to get her into one of their flirtatious arguments, because he was worried by her lack of fire this morning. He watched her sigh and ignore his question in favor of sitting at her desk and beginning her work. Gibbs decided to leave under the pretense of a coffee run, and McGee just huddled into his chair and watched his computer screen.

Tony wisely chose to allow the subject to pass and went back to his computer. Only ten minutes passed before another interruption caught his attention. Ziva's shrill ring tone filled the bullpen, but she ignored the call after looking at the screen. Tony was about to make a comment about Ziva's ignored call, but Abby ran into the bullpen as well as she could in her high platforms. "Ziva David, what is wrong with you?", she asked loudly enough for the entire building to hear. Some people looked over, but most were accustomed to Abby's...excessive nature.

Ziva looked up in shock and scanned her mind for things she could have done to upset Abby. It was hard to get on the goth forensic scientist's bad side when you were one of her team members, but Ziva realized what she did. "Oh! It was my day to bring your caf-pow, Abby, I can not believe I forgot."

Abby watched Ziva closely, because something was off about her. "I can't believe it either. You don't forget anything. So, how could this have slipped your mind?" Abby was suspicious, and she was digging. That was never a good combination.

Ziva knew she didn't want to have that conversation with Tony and McGee listening (especially Tony), so she evaded the question. "It has now slipped back into my mind, and I will get your caf-pow before we all must endure a caffeine free Abby.", Ziva said as she slipped away from her desk and the questions.

Abby was worried about the way Ziva was avoiding questions. She was never exactly open, but she usually tried a bit harder for the team. "Tony, go into the elevator and talk to her. I don't care what reason you have to make up. Just go, and no excuses or I will kill you without leaving any forensic evidence...or a body." She added the last part to her usual threat, because Tony still seemed to be hesitant, but he sighed and went to the elevator as Abby had ordered, although he muttered about having to be the one who put his life on the line. Abby ran to her lab at light speed after seeing that he was following orders.

Tony caught the elevator door just when it was almost closed and smiled to Ziva when he entered. He and Ziva stood in the elevator for a minute after she pressed a button, and the elevator started its ascent. Tony thought he might be risking his life, but he flipped the emergency stop switch and caught Ziva's hand when she tried to flip it back. "Trying to play Gibbs again, Tony?", she asked condescendingly.

He saw that her defensive walls were fully up and running. He wanted to make her talk to him, but he had to go about carefully. "Was it Fletcher on the phone?", he asked without looking at her. He stared at the metal doors in front of them and hoped she would answer.

Ziva's face became a blank mask immediately. "I am not having this conversation with you.", she answered. She flipped the switch, and both agents expected the elevator to begin moving, but nothing happened. The lights remained darkened, and the elevator stayed stubbornly in place.

She and Tony looked at each other for a moment before she tried the switch again and again. "This is _not _happening!", Tony yelled at the elevator doors. They didn't budge, even when he mercilessly kicked the doors. He sighed and turned to see Ziva sitting on the floor watching him in slight amusement when the doors showed no sign of budging.

He was about to say something sarcastic when his phone rang. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his ringing phone and saw that it was Gibbs. "Oh no.", he said before answering. "Hey, boss", Tony greeted over enthusiastically.

"DiNozzo, where the hell are you. We got a dead petty off- why isn't the elevator working?", Gibbs yelled into the phone heatedly.

"About that. It would seem the elevator is stuck with Ziva and myself inside, and we were just about to call for help. Gibbs growled into the phone but disconnected the call. They heard him yell for McGee to follow him to the stairs, and they went to the crime scene, two agents short. "Ha, McUnlucky is going to have so much fun processing the crime scene without us."

"Yes, Tony, and now we get to have all of the fun and sit in an elevator for who knows how long.", Ziva answered while rolling her eyes. Tony was reminded that they were stuck in the elevator and couldn't believe his luck. He needed to talk to Ziva on the same day the elevator forces them to stay together, and it could take hours for someone to get them out.

He sat beside her and tried to think of how to ease into the conversation, but then he remembered that he didn't need to, because she couldn't leave if he made her angry, and anger made people say things they would normally keep to themselves. "So, what did Fletcher do?", he asked.

Ziva banged her head against the wall and knew this would be the longest day of her life and more torturous than anything Gibbs would have made them do at the crime scene instead.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony could see that Ziva was really bothered by something Fletcher had done, so he needed to change tactics. "Will you at least tell me how much I want to shoot him?", he asked. He had switched to the sympathetic route, kind of.

Ziva knew Tony cared about her and was only trying to help, but she really didn't want him to know. "I believe you would agree with him, but you would want to shoot him for voicing it." She couldn't tell him. If the thought hadn't already crossed his mind, it would after she answered his questions.

Her answer had only intensified Tony's interest, and he wanted to demand answers. That's not how you got through Ziva's walls though. He would need to prove that she should and could tell him. "You know, we all care about you. If he did something, I won't hesitate to shoot him, and I know Gibbs and McGee would feel the same way."

"I can take care of myself." Ziva wanted to clarify that her time at NCIS hadn't softened her into some helpless damsel in distress who needed a big, strong man to save her. She had been taking care of herself and defending her honor without help for nearly her entire life.

"You can beat people up, and ninja them into submission, but everyone needs someone they can lean on. It doesn't have to be co-dependence, but you could just take a break and rest against the other person's resolve instead of always bottling everything up until you shoot some unsuspecting bill board or mail box." He scooted a little closer to Ziva as if emphasizing his point by being close enough for her to literally lean on.

Ziva considered his words carefully. She had opened up to Tony before and had let him in more than anyone except Gibbs, and he had never mocked her or told someone something she wished to keep quiet. "I suppose I could use a break.", she admitted as she leaned into Tony ever so slightly. "I do not know if you remember how long I have been seeing Fletcher, bu-"

Tony cut her off with "A month and a half". He wanted to make sure she knew that he paid attention to what was going on in her life.

She smiled a little and continued. "Yes, well everything was going well until last night at dinner. We went to that Italian place you said was so good." She paused as she remembered what came next in the story.

"Ziva, put me out of my misery here, because I'm thinking the worst.", Tony admitted. Thoughts of violence and Fletcher being too handsy were running through his mind, and he prayed that he was wrong.

"No, nothing like that. He has always been a perfect gentleman, but he is an open journal.", she said as if that explained everything.

"Open book, and what does that have to do with anything?" Tony was very confused at this point but waited to hear what came next.

"Well, in the first two weeks I already knew so much about him. I knew about his family and his work at Georgetown. He told me about his hobbies and favorite activities so easily, but I am not that way. He asked questions about my family and where I worked before NCIS, and I avoided his questions for obvious reasons."

Tony was putting pieces together in his mind. "So, he wanted more from you, and you weren't ready to get so personal.", he surmised.

"I tried, but there is much from my past that I wish to forget. I told him I wished not to speak about it, and he was happy with the answer for a while. Last night he asked me to give him something, and I said that I didn't like sharing myself as much as he did. He told me..." She stopped, and her breath hitched slightly. "He said that I must be very damaged if I could not answer questions as simple as my past occupation."

Tony felt anger boil inside of him. It wouldn't sound as offensive to anyone else, but Ziva was damaged. She hid it well, but her work with Mossad, her father, Ari and Tahli, it all took its toll. For someone to take such blatant notice of her damaged self was a hard blow. Tony was almost certain Fletcher had voiced his comment without so much as a second thought that he might be more right than he considered. Tony wrapped his arm around Ziva's shoulder and pulled her to him. She let herself fall into Tony's embrace, because she needed someone else to be strong, just for a moment. "You wouldn't be allowed on Team Gibbs if you weren't damaged like the rest of us.", Tony said.

"I am what people call damaged goods, yes?", she asked to be sure she had her English correct.

Tony's hold on her tightened at her words. "_You_ are _not_ damaged goods. You have come back from a lot of stuff that most people will never experience. If they did, they'd probably drown themselves in a bottle of tequila, but you powered through. Definitely not damaged goods." He wanted to drill into her head that she was so much better than she gave herself credit for. He also wanted to find Fletcher and shoot him. "Why hasn't Fletcher come by? Seems like an apology should be carried out in person.", he theorized when the silence became to thick.

Ziva laughed a little to herself, because she knew exactly why Fletcher was trying to call instead of visit her. "I may have told him that if I ever saw his face again I would castrate him and make him watch while I put his manhood in a blender and set it to puree."

Tony laughed loudly, and Ziva took comfort in listening to the vibrations of his laughter run through his chest. "If you do, I call a front row seat.", he said. It was quiet again when Ziva's phone rang. She saw that Fletcher was calling again and ignored his call again. She sighed and settled back into Tony's side; she wasn't done resting yet. "Here's an idea: You, me, McGee, and Abby could have a movie night. No phones allowed.", he offered.

Ziva wanted the distraction, and what better way to be distracted then by the people who cared about and loved her. She hadn't been out with Abby in some time and owed her for the caf-pow she still had not given to the addicted goth. "I suppose I could endure a night of listening to you say the lines with the movie while McGee and Abby throw pop corn at you."

This is why they were a team. They worked together and reminded each other that they were all stuck together for life. Gibbs wouldn't let his team of misfits go if SecNav had a gun to his head and the orders signed. They were Team Gibbs, and every one of them was just damaged enough to have earned a life time spot.


End file.
